The One Without Words

❀ chapter thirty-seven | i hate your poems ❀

The sound of Jack's voice tore a hole through reality. Seth froze, cupcake mid-air. Even Eli turned around, the engine still running, as he stared at Jack in shock.

"Damn," Seth whispered. "Here, you won. Have the whole thing." He shoved the tray of cupcakes at Jack, who took them carefully. Seth looked away, almost shy for a second.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I'd expected Seth to be going crazy, hooting and laughing and trying to give Jack a fist bump, saying something like, "Took you long enough, bro." He finally got what he wanted—provoking Jack enough to make him speak, but Seth and Eli were the speechless ones now.

Eli's piercing gaze met mine through the reflection in the overhead mirror. What was his deal? Jack spoke, and he was staring me down? Maybe he felt suspicious that I didn't seem so surprised at Jack's words. I waited for him to comment on it, but he didn't. Probably because Seth was in the car and would start making a huge deal about it.

I glanced at Jack. He smiled cheekily and offered me another cupcake. I gladly took it—even though I hadn't finished my first—and tried not to laugh at how cheerful he looked right now. With only four words, he'd finally put Seth in his place. Way more than their little fist fights.

Maybe violence wasn't the answer after all. Maybe Seth's vodka helped loosen some of Jack's nerves. But regardless, if he got the courage to speak in front of Seth and Eli, maybe it meant bigger things were coming. I couldn't help but feel excited. Mostly because Jack said it himself—he wanted to overcome his fears.

"Sorry, uh, Jack," Seth began, wiping his frosting beard off on his sleeve. "I thought that it would still be funny to call you, you know, what I've always called you."

"It's not funny," Eli muttered as he finally started driving.

"Yeah, I get that." Seth turned over his flask. "Shit, I wish I had more to celebrate. Can we go get some more?"

"I think we just need to get home."

The silly, improvised birthday celebration, the frosting on Seth's face... the humor of those moments faded, replaced by a weird tension I couldn't pinpoint. Eli fixed his gaze on the winding, dimly-lit road, his posture tense. Had he heard the sound of Jack's voice back when they were friends? Or maybe Jack never spoke a word to him, and Eli felt some type of way about it now.

All I had were guesses. Meanwhile, Jack casually ate another cupcake, looking more pleased with himself than ever.

"What happened to your frat boy friends?" I asked Seth. "Wasn't one of them in the hospital because of the crash at the race?"

"Yeah, he's fine now."

"Are you on good terms with them, though?"

"Not anymore. And I can't figure out if they're the ones spreading rumors about me, or if it's the special snowflake over here."

"It's not me," Eli defended.

"Rumors?" I asked, taking a bite out of my cupcake.

"Rumors that I'm gay," Seth clarified.

He definitely had to still be drunk to say that out loud. Eli, on the other hand, tended to be his "brutally honest"—his words, not mine—self at all times of the day. Sober or not.

Eli shook his head. "I would never out anyone. They're just rumors, Seth. Rumors start. Especially about people like you."

"People like me? The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"People everyone ha—dislikes."

Seth went silent.

"How many more times do I have to tell you?" Eli continued. "You're a bully."